


Passion Flower

by Yasu_SAMA



Series: |As Time Goes By...| [1]
Category: Dadaroma (Band), MEJIBRAY, VAMPS (Japan Band), X JAPAN, exist†trace, 摩天楼オペラ | Matenrou Opera
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Depression, Drug Use, F/M, M/M, Magic, Mentions of Suicide, No Smut, Royalty, Strait relationships, Wonderland AU, gay relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-01-11 19:34:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18430670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yasu_SAMA/pseuds/Yasu_SAMA
Summary: Ten years after the death of his best friend, Yoshiki discovers a pocket watch in a box of Hide’s secret possessions. He doesn’t know why it is so special, but the truth of the watch’s importance and Hide’s sudden death come to light at 12:00 A.M. May 3rd.





	1. Early Hour

**Author's Note:**

> Hello peoples! I have lost track of how many stories I've tried to write, but I have some faith in this one!  
> Please enjoy and comment if you see mistakes please, it would help me greatly!

 

It’s May 2, 2008. It’s been ten years since the passing of Matsumoto Hideto. And the tears that fall on the piano keys are never new, they were always bringing themselves up in times where happiness should have been welcomed, not turned away at the door. Usually these thoughts would summon up inspiration for lyrics and music for Yoshiki, but today was no day for creation but one for mourning. It became routine for Yoshiki to wake up early on May 2 every year, to honor Hide in silence for the brilliant life he lived. Hide didn’t deserve to live in misery and guilt for the five months following his death. He was successful in his solo work, but it didn’t bring him true happiness, because being with X, playing with X was what made Hide happy and feel fulfilled. 

But that happiness was killed when Toshi wanted to leave to join his sick wife and Masaya to create “healing music”, Toshi was very adamant about leaving, but Hide was also adamant about having one last live to end X. Toshi was annoyed by the fact he had to come and participate, but he was still bound by his contract, so he had to do one last live, but he sure did try to sabotage everything up to the night of the live; being late to the rehearsals, purposely breaking equipment, being so drunk and hungover that he could barely function like a proper human. Of course by the night of December 31, 1997 came around, Hide was holding onto Toshi by a thread, everyone else had let go already, but Hide couldn’t, he thought he could still save Toshi, but it was not possible.

 

Everyone had gone their separate ways after the live and Yoshiki only wanted to barricade himself in his house and cry until he couldn’t cry anymore. He had spoken to Hide a few times after disbanding, mainly about how Hide felt guilty about X disbanding and how he could barely hold himself back from ending it all. These were facts that no one in the public knew, and Hide didn’t want his fans, former fans, and smaller bands who followed in X’s footsteps to learn how the ‘great Hide’ had given up and succumbed to his grief. But everything came to a deafening halt when Yoshiki received the most terrible news since his father’s death; Hide had taken his own life. Yoshiki was shocked beyond words, he knew Hide was feeling very depressed and guilty over what had happened, but he didn’t think it would come to this. Shortly after, Hide’s parents and brother had given Yoshiki a few items of Hide’s that Hide had wanted him to have if he ever came to pass.  He had received Hide’s signature yellow guitar which had hearts on it, it was one of Yoshiki’s favorites by far. He had also received a box labeled “possessions” in Hide’s neat yet rushed handwriting, not much was in their, just small trinkets Hide had cherished and sheet music of unfinished music that Hide had wanted Yoshiki to finish for him in his place. Yoshiki had kept the guitar in mint condition, despite it being quite old now, and he kept the box of possessions next to his nightstand in case he would want to continue Hide’s work, but it felt wrong to change Hide’s original plan of direction.

 

Yoshiki had remembered when Hide had bought that yellow guitar, it was such a sweet memory that Yoshiki held close to his heart, everyone else in X had thought it was old and ugly, but Hide had seen it’s potential through the old scratches and frayed string endings. Once Hide had restored the instrument to its former glory, they were wrong to doubt Hide’s insight on most things that people don’t see or pay any attention to. And it was that very guitar that created the backbone of one of X’s most powerful songs: ‘Kurenai”.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

_ Yoshiki had watched Hide examine many guitars and tested many more, but none seemed to be of his liking. And this had been the third music store they had been to. But still nothing grabbed Hide’s attention, the fiery redhead had explained he wanted a new guitar whose personality and look would be as unique as his own. Which was a pretty impossible goal for an instrument. Yoshiki had sighed as Hide returned another guitar with a sour look on his face and shook his head. _

 

_   “Are you almost done Hide? It’s been four hours and you haven’t found “the one”.” Yoshiki had complained but Hide only shushed him and smirked. _

 

_   “You can’t rush me Yo-chan…” Hide mumbled as he walked to the back of the store to do one last look around before leaving for the next store. Yoshiki walked behind in a bored gait but bumped into when he had suddenly stopped. _

 

_   “What the hell Hide?!” Yoshiki growled but Hide didn’t react to his friend’s irritation. Yoshiki noticed his friend’s stiff posture, he then followed Hide’s gaze which was settled on an old yellow Fernandes HEART-ZO guitar that had many scratches and the strings were fraying at the ends. Yoshiki saw the mischievous glimmer in Hide’s eyes as he gently picked the guitar off the obvious clearance rack that had other broken down guitars that couldn’t even be repaired. Hide inspected the guitar, smiling at every little scratch and old, untuned string. Hide smiled once more before taking the guitar with him to the front of the store to buy it. Yoshiki was very confused by his friend’s choice. _

 

_  “Uh… Hide, can you even restore this guitar, it looks so… old.” Yoshiki commented but got an annoyed eye roll from Hide. While walking, Hide placed the guitar at his chest and strummed downward once, it was definitely out of tune but Hide didn’t care. “See, I can play it. It just needs some love.” Hide said and continued on his way. _

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

Hide had bought that guitar without hesitation, Yoshiki was worried that his friend had just spent seventy-eight dollars on a old, busted guitar, but Hide had proved him wrong, again. He restored the guitar completely, the former dull yellow was now a bright joyful yellow and the heart designs were now a lot more vivid and the strings had been replaced. Hide had brought this new guitar to rehearsals for their new song “Kurenai”. Even though it had been fixed and re-designed, Toshi and Taiji still made fun of its interesting character, Pata said nothing because he also had his fair share of odd looking guitars. However, Toshi and Taiji’s opinion of the guitar changed when they heard Hide play the first few notes that open the song. 

The way Hide performed and played was interesting and his new guitar had a unique sound that matched him perfectly, it was just what he wanted. That guitar continued to be an iconic symbol for Hide, their fans would see a picture of his guitar and would assume Hide was somehow involved. Hide was such an inspiration for a lot of people; teens, adults, and older kids were inspired by X’s work, but mainly Hide’s character and how interacted around others was how he received so many loving fans. However, the year of 1996 was when the entire of X’s being was threatened. Toshi had met a woman, no one in X ever met her, Yoshiki was the first to become suspicious. His childhood friend was never this elusive. Soon enough, at the end of a another awkward rehearsal, Toshi broke the silence…

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

_ Everyone was quiet as they were wrapping up from rehearsal, and again, they were sloppy, lacked emotion and chemistry, and Toshi was barely trying to do his part. Yoshiki could see the frustration in Hide’s eyes, Hide was pretty lenient during rehearsal, it was the time to make and fix mistakes so they don’t happen onstage; however, Toshi didn’t just mess up, he was purposely missing certain notes and not sing the English parts. This definitely made Hide clench his jaw and grumble to himself. Both Hide and Yoshiki had concluded that it was the new wife that has been influencing his behavior: She doesn’t approve of the type of music that X created, she would become upset with Toshi if he spoke or sang in English because she felt it destroyed his culture, and she would force Toshi to make excuses to where he couldn’t attend rehearsals. But his wife’s manipulation had became too much and it destroyed X Japan. _

 

_   “I no longer want to be a member of X Japan.” Toshi had spoke out and this caused everyone to drop what they were holding to stare at Toshi as if he had grown another head. _

 

_   “What! Why?!” Heath questioned as he crossed his arms. Heath was a relatively new member of X, but has been here long enough to display his thoughts on Toshi’s words. All Toshi did was shrug and turn back to sloppily putting his equipment away. Yoshiki then turned his head to look at Hide who was growling in anger. _

 

_   “Answer him Damn it!!” Hide shouted, but Toshi had only sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. “Because I don’t want to anymore. Simple as that. X Japan doesn’t make me happy.” Toshi responded in a bored tone, as if he was told to say this… Both Heath and Hide was in a stance that meant nothing but confrontation, Pata hadn’t been involving himself and was just sitting on the couch, pretending not to listen to the conflict going on.  _

 

_   “But what about us! You do realize that you are screwing us over!” Hide stated and took a couple steps closer to Toshi who didn’t give much of a reaction before responding himself. _

 

_   “I don’t care Hideto. I don’t care that I’m screwing you guys over, I am leaving and that’s final.” Toshi’s monotone voice hadn’t changed, but the use of Hide’s real name set a fire ablaze in Hide’s eyes. No one ever called him Hideto, except for his family, Hide had his own reasons of keeping Hide and Hideto as separate people. _

 

_ Even though Yoshiki was confused, angry, and saddened by his friend’s choice, he decided to be the level headed one in this situation and diffuse the fire before it exploded. _

 

_   “Toshi… Why? Why throw away everything we have tried to build in the last ten years?” Yoshiki asked, sadness being his main emotion as he felt tears prick the sides of his eyes. All Toshi did was turn his back to his bandmates. “I didn’t really want apart of this, I only helped you because I felt bad for you. Also your so depressed and emotional, ugh! You were too much to handle. I thought a bit of fame could clear your head a bit.” Toshi responded but this time his words were laced with venom so poisonous it stung the open wounds Toshi had opened.. Yoshiki was still appalled by what Toshi said that he didn’t see Heath throw a punch towards the vocalist, but Toshi didn’t seem shocked. If anything, he just laughed and shook his head. “Whatever,” Was all Toshi said before leaving.  _

 

_ It had been an hour since Toshi left, but everyone was still where they were before. Suddenly, a heartbreaking sob cut through the air as Hide dropped to his knees and cried into his hands. Hide had dedicated his life to X. Joining X Japan had been Hide’s last resort before quitting music all together. But Toshi had destroyed what he and Yoshiki were working towards, all fallen apart because of a few words. Despite the pain he felt, Hide insisted on one last show, but of course Toshi would try his damn best to disrupt everything leading up to the last live.  _

 

_ Heath and Pata had no problem with it, but the only one they had to convince was Toshi. Bu thanks to his contract, he had to perform once more before his contract was cancelled. It was the morning and afternoon rehearsal for the last live, Toshi didn’t show up for the morning rehearsal, no doubt probably hungover, or being held up by his “loving” wife. But he did show up ,late, and smelling of alcohol. Both Yoshiki and Hide didn’t say a word Toshi, Pata and Heath tried to have the most minimal contact as possible. During their break, Hide had approached Yoshiki with a prominent issue. Toshi would usually do an MC in the middle of the show and after the shows, but with the way Toshi had been acted and the way he thought about X was currently very negative. They could not allow him to speak to their distraught fans. _

 

_ Unfortunately, both Hide and Yoshiki were unsuccessful at muting Toshi’s mic when he started his MC. But Yoshiki had thanked his lucky stars that Toshi didn’t speak ill of X, or his now former band members. But soon after the live ended, Toshi had let his poisonous words infect everyone. _

 

_ Yoshiki had been walking to his dressing room when he heard Toshi whisper to one of the roadies, Yoshifumi. And what he heard truly broke his heart. _

 

_   “Ugh! Probably one of the worst lives they’ve ever done. This music is so depressing and dark, no wonder the youth are corrupted.”  _

 

_ Toshi really believed their music was… bad. Even after all the time of complaining about their music, Toshi never gave a straightforward answer to why. But now his truth has come to light. Yoshiki knew he was overreacting but hearing this from Toshi made Yoshiki feels like all his word, all Hide’s hard work on the majority of X Japan’s songs was all for nothing, that they weren’t worth Toshi’s time. _

 

_ Yoshiki saw how Yoshifumi shifted uncomfortably, and turned his head away. He obviously didn’t agree with Toshi’s opinion of X’s music. Yoshiki had known Yoshifumi since he first became a roadie at seventeen, he had lied about his age by saying he was twenty-one, but Yoshiki didn’t kick him to the curb once he learned to truth; Yoshifumi was the classic story of a childhood classical musician who developed a love for rock, but his conservative parents disapproved of his choice of music. Yoshifumi’s parents ultimately kicked him out when he didn’t want to go to college and to observe the life of a true rock star he became one of the X roadies. _

 

_   “Hey Yoshifumi!” Yoshiki called out and the younger man looked over with confused and slightly scared eyes, Yoshiki gave him a sad smile as he walked up to him. “Don’t worry, I heard what he said, but I know you wouldn’t ever tarnish X’s name,” Yoshiki said, his sad smile still intact. Yoshifumi also gave a small smile, the disbandment of X would be hard on him. Yoshiki gave him a brief hug and continued down to his dressing room. Once he was there he saw Hide standing in the middle of the room, he had already changed into normal clothing and had taken his makeup off. _

 

_   “Hide?” Yoshiki spoke softly because Hide seemed he could be blown away like night time mist. Hide stared at Yoshiki with large desperate eyes. Before he knew it, Hide had thrown himself at Yoshiki in a desperate hug, despite Hide being a year older than him, somehow Yoshiki was always the one comforting Hide. Yoshiki pulled Hide closer to himself and instinctively placed alight kiss on top of Hide’s red hair. And since then it had been a road to disaster since.  _

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

Yoshiki had awoken from his memory-dream, it was the last live and the events afterwards. But it was normal for Yoshiki to dream of those times when X was still alive. Yoshiki looked over at the clock on the wall. It was only 3:00 A.M, but Yoshiki was used to the lack of sleep, he could survive on just three hours of sleep, unlike most people. However, he just couldn’t fall back asleep, he tossed and turned for the next hour until he found every position uncomfortable. He finally jolted out of bed and walked around his room before his eyes settled on the dark wood box at the foot of his bed. He kneeled next to the box and ran his hand over the smooth wood, he then lifted the top off and stared at the items inside, most paper were removed so they weren’t destroyed.

sometimes when he couldn’t sleep he would rummage through the different items, wondering what the importance of a simple scarf meant, but at the same time didn’t want to question what Hide had called precious. If they were precious to Hide they were precious to Yoshiki. Yoshiki continued to rummage through until he found two items he had never seen before: A silver pocket watch, and an envelope. He had never seen these items before, and he had rummaged through this box more than a few times over the past ten years. Yoshiki picked the pocket watch and opened it, the time inside was incorrect, but he did notice a scratched in note on the inside.

 

**_‘To my precious one,_ **

**_Follow your dreams until you burst at the seams._ **

**_A place so holy that it holds your glory_ **

**_A castle for king_ **

**_A ring for a queen’_ **

 

Yoshiki read the message but was very confused by it, Hide had it in his ‘precious box’, but what did the quote mean? Did Hide leave this for him to find? But Yoshiki recognized those words. They were lyrics to one of Hide’s unfinished songs: “Melodic Dream Night” was the name and it was one of the songs that Yoshiki couldn’t finish, afraid he would change what Hide wanted. But why did Hide have the lyrics on the inside of a pocket watch. Yoshiki placed the pocket watch on the floor and picked up the envelope and opened it. Suddenly, something came out of the envelope and landed in Yoshiki’s hand. It was a amber stone that was connected to a black chain. Also inside the envelope was a paper letter, personally addressed to Yoshiki.

 

_   ‘Could  this be his suicide note’  _ Yoshiki thought as he unfolded the letter with trembling hands. He then started to read the letter with attentive eyes, taking in every word.

 

**_‘ To my one and only Love,_ **

**_My dearest Yoshiki… There are enough words to express my love for you. I never told you my feelings and I regret not telling you. I know it is too late and you wouldn’t have returned my love, but you need to know. For me… We go beyond friends, beyond brothers, beyond business partners. My love for X, was love for you. I was so proud of you how you stayed strong for me, Pata, and Heath when Toshi decided to leave, we would have been lost without you leading us. I would have loved to stay by your side, but I can’t, I can no longer stay in this world, I must leave and attend others. You may think I’m selfish for leaving, but this is the only way our legacy can live on. Remember the necklace in this envelope, I found this for you, so you can remember me for as long as you live. Don’t be afraid to live Yo-chan. You have such a bright future ahead._ **

 

**_This is also a warning from me to you and I hope you find this letter before it’s too late, but not everyone is who they seem to be. Be suspicious of those you don’t know inside and out, our industry isn’t all trusting as it seems, there are those who want to see you fall and never get up again. Be very wary of Toshi, he may come for you next, he already made sure I couldn’t warn any others, he does have allies trying to continue his work. Stay safe my dearest, we shall meet soon._ **

 

**_With Love_ **

**__\- Hide’_ _ **

 

 

Yoshiki didn’t want to cry, but the tears started falling and they had fallen onto the letter. ‘Hide had loved him. As much as he loved X. How could I have been so blind to him.’ Yoshiki hugged the letter close to his chest and sobbed. One of the best cries he had in a long time. Finally letting go of his guilt had taken a huge weight off of Yoshiki’s shoulder. But that doesn’t mean Hide didn’t still carry his guilt over the disbandment. Knowing that Hide still blames himself made Yoshiki feel like a rope of thorns were wrapping around his heart and pulling tightly. Yoshiki then looked down at the amber necklace and shakingly reached for it. It was a beautiful stone and Yoshiki would honor Hide more by wearing it on him unless it was ripped off his neck. He would keep Hide with him wherever he went now. It was way too precious to just keep in a box.

 

Hide’s letter also said to never trust those who are suspicious and associated with Toshi or that I may be next to “disappear” like Hide did. But that was no problem for Yoshiki, nowadays, trust was the hardest thing to acquire from Yoshiki, the only ones Yoshiki thought he can still trust is Pata, Heath, and Sugizo. Everyone would be vying for his position as the long standing king of Visual Kei and Japanese music.

 

**~*~*~*~**

  
  


Yoshiki had gone to sleep early, around 8:00, he just couldn’t stay awake after his day of mourning, especially after finding the letter and necklace in Hide’s box. Yoshiki couldn’t believe he didn’t notice the letter before then. He had searched that box from top to bottom, and no letter, until now. However, in the letter, Hide didn’t say he was going to kill himself, but just that he had to go and not come back.. It was only 10:00 P.M when Yoshiki awoke again, he wasn’t used to getting a lot of sleep, but he still felt drowsy and weak. Yoshiki was still in bed and staring at the ceiling when he heard a tapping noise at his window, he looked up and saw a cardinal bird at his window. He was surprised, cardinals weren’t native to Japan and people hardly see them. Yoshiki stared at the bird for a while before it flew away. Even though the bird flew away, Yoshiki still was staring at the window with a blank gaze. 

 

Yoshiki wasn’t aware how long he had been sitting on the ground until he felt sudden ,harsh sunlight blind his eyes, he blocked his eyes with his hand as he peered at the clock on the wall:  _ ‘ _ 7:37’ _.  _ Yet another night of crying over someone who he can’t see again.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

The evening had come too quickly for Yoshiki’s liking, he wasn’t ready to go through another sleepless, or nightmare filled night. He tried to carry on as normal, but it was proving to be near impossible as he was reminded of Hide all over his home. It was as if he just died and a year hadn’t passed.   
  
He had been moping around all day and the most he did was take a shower , barely ate, but that wasn't new to Yoshiki. It was now apparent to anyone who still had contact with Yoshiki that his depression was at an all time low. The end of X Japan and the death of Hide was just too much... All his hard work from the past two decades had just been completely torn apart in less than six months. Yoshiki kept telling himself that his purpose in life was now gone and that there was no need to have him around anymore. Even though he vowed to never think these... dark thoughts again, they kept coming back, and they were calling for Yoshiki's soul and blood. He knew Hide would be disappointed in him, maybe even angry and spiteful. But he couldn't continue living a life where no person thrived.

 

Yoshiki stopped looking at the clock a long time ago, he knows he is only avoiding the inevitable. Yoshiki looked out his window one last time and saw the same cardinal outside, it just looked at him with dark, almost pleading eyes. But Yoshiki only pushed it off and walked out of his room and towards the bathroom. He locked the door as he closed it, Yoshiki then looked into the mirror to see his disheveled self. His blonde hair now had dark roots coming through and his hair reached his shoulders which shook with quiet sobs. He tried hard not to stare at the disappointment he'd become. His brown eyes looked dead and his normally pale skin looked almost deathly white. While Yoshiki stared at himself, he noticed the crystal necklace he still wore was glowing a small amount, he gently touched it and it stopped it's faint glow. Yoshiki shook his head and looked back to the mirror, but didn't see his current self, but a younger him. He must be hallucinating, this version of himself was smiling lightly, he was dressed in X's old Visual kei style. Yoshiki slowly put his hand to the mirror and his other reflection followed with a smirk. Inside of feeling the cold mirror... It was like touching a real warm hand, Yoshiki looked up as his reflection held a finger up to his lips.

 

 "He's been waiting for you..." Was all he said before everything went black and Yoshiki was surrounded by a cold sensation.


	2. Awakening and Corruption

 

A cold and wet feeling surrounded Yoshiki but his body wasn’t wet and cold, only his face was. He slowly opened his eyes and was staring up into a dark grey sky which had thick snow falling from it. Yoshiki didn’t know where he was… The last thing he remembered was walking into his bathroom, the glowing necklace, and seeing his reflection change, it was probably hallucination from lack of basic necessities. Yoshiki knew for the past three or four days that he didn’t eat a lot and barely got any sleep because of his anxious pacing at night; a habit he has had since his dad died. Yoshiki shook the memories away and looked around himself as he sat up, all he saw was a very snowy forest across a large gap between the land area he was on and the forest, the gap was connected by a sturdy looking bridge and below he could hear the rushing of a river. 

 

Yoshiki looked away from his surroundings and looked at his strange attire, which was the exact same as the clothes his “reflection wore: A long leather jacket, leather pants, biker-like boots, and he messy blonde hair was longer, lighter, and styled and it felt like it was styled quite interestingly. He looked around until he noticed a small iced over lake that looked very clear, he stood up slowly and walked to the edge of the lake. Yoshiki looked down and he was shocked when he saw that he looked exactly like his hallucination reflection, hair and everything. Yoshiki subconsciously smiled at his appearance, it reminded him of X’s old times, the good times when Toshi wasn’t brainwashed and Hide was still alive… 

 

Yoshiki became lost in his thoughts again until the loud chirp of a bird caught his attention. It was that cardinal! The one he saw outside his window. The bird chirped again before flying a short distance to a wooden sign covered with snow. The blonde moved towards the sign and swiped the snow off and the bold words “Passion Flower” hid behind the remaining snow. Yoshiki looked around once more, deciding that going into the forest and across the bridge was his best bet of finding out where the hell he was?

 

~*~*~*~

 

The guard swiftly made his way to the throne room. The news of ‘his’ arrival will bring faith to the many inhabitants of Passion Flower, the king’s flower will no longer wilt but come alive! The guard greeted many of personnel who tended to the current royal figure, he continued on his way until he came face-to-face with the throne room door, he breathed deeply before knocking on the large door.

 

As soon as he heard the faint ‘come in’, the guard rushed in and bowed before his prince.

 

  “Your majesty! I have received word from Asami that the king has arrived!” The guard said in an excited tone, but he kept his face calm. The prince in question smiled widely at the news, he felt a gentle warmth surround him, it has been so long since he had felt this feeling. His lover, his soulmate! Had come back to him!

 

The prince stood from his throne and walked towards the guard who was his most trusted friend, his long red hair trailed down his back and he hugged his friend, a few happy tears escaped his eyes at the thought of meeting his true love once again.

  “Your majesty… there may be some concern with the king coming here…” The guard murmured and the prince gave him a look that both had confusion and anger.

 

  “Whatever do you mean? He has come home. What could go wrong?” The prince asked as he stared as he platonically tugged at his friend’s shoulder-length raven colored hair.

 

 “I am worried that Toshi and Jyou will find out and trap him, then Sugizo, Pata, Heath, and many others will be in danger or trapped as you are.” The guard responded and a look of understanding came over the prince’s face but also a look of longing. He knew that the prince wanted to see his soulmate again and he would do anything to make sure they are both safe until they see each other once more.

 

  “Don’t worry Your Majesty. I’ll try my best to protect what matters most, the fate of our entire existence depends on the king.” The guard promised and the prince hugged his friend tightly, grateful for his promise.

 

The guard and friend took his leave, leaving the prince to his own devices, with a rare happy tone to his walk he peeked out the balcony in the throne room to overlook very beautiful and vibrant flowers, except one. One red rose was slightly wilted and dry, it’s soul is missing. But it will soon be revived.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The bridge was not as sturdy as it looked, some boards were missing and it swayed gently with the snowy wind. Yoshiki’s heart almost stopped when a particularly strong gust of wind rocked the bridge and he nearly fell over in the rushing river below. However, the same cardinal sat on a branch waiting for Yoshiki and was constantly chirping, as if it was cheering him on and giving him hope. Yoshiki made it across the bridge and immediately fell to his knees in the snow, the adrenaline making him shake, the cold surprisingly didn’t affect him that much.

 

Yoshiki sighed and stood up to see the cardinal fly near him and into the forest in front of him. There were obvious trails in the snow that were made by people walking through them. The blonde considered turning back, thinking it was all just a very vivid dream that he couldn’t wake up from. Despite the fighting opinions, Yoshiki walked down the snowy trail cautiously, he didn’t see any other people or animals, just an occasional chirp and the crunch of snow underfoot.

 

The walking seemed to go on forever, and Yoshiki thought he was truly lost, he noticed he passed the same windy tree about three times already; however, this time there were two people hanging around on the branches of the tree. From Yoshiki’s distance, they both had black hair and were wearing casual yet still visual kei style clothing, the blonde walked closer and finally recognized the two hanging on the tree branches.

 

  “Tsuzuku!? Yo-Yoshiatsu!?” Yoshiki called out and the two look-alikes looked at Yoshiki with big smiles. Yoshiki didn’t know Tsuzuku and Yoshiatsu that well, they were younger and had a definite difference in visual kei than X did.

 

“Oh! Yo-Sama! You have found your way here finally!” Yoshiatsu said as he gracefully dropped from a branch and landed almost cat-like. Yoshiki was still shocked to see these two and looked back up a Tsuzuku who was hanging upside down and was smirking.

 

 ‘I still must be dreaming…’ Yoshiki thought but pulled his attention to Yoshiatsu who was laughing.

 

  “Silly man! You're not dreaming, you're in Passion Flower, it is the birthplace of many of us!” Yoshiatsu finished and Tsuzuku now joined but had more of a neutral looking expression than his trademark grin.

 

  “How do you mean? Birthplace?” Yoshiki asked and the two ravens looked at each other and then at Yoshiki.

 

  “Well… We come from Passion Flower, we weren’t born on Earth like most others, we were created through the passion of others, feuds, artistic differences. Overall, someone like us is born when a band split because of artistic differences or major feuds, we are sent to show them that all genres under visual kei can be explored. We have a strong purpose… To make sure no one ends as badly as X did…” Tsuzuku explained and Yoshiki was absolutely in shock. X started an entire separate universe just for the sake of a genre.

 

  “No, it isn’t only visual kei, or genres. It is more about the passion that goes into the music itself, we are created to make sure that everyone can understand and respect different passions that make them feel alive.” Yoshiatsu added and things were now becoming clear to Yoshiki. This was no dream, this was real, but how to he get here?

 

  “The crystal you wear, it helps you travel between worlds, as a pioneer and king you and your family created this world we come from,” Tsuzuku said and Yoshiki was a little freaked that they knew what he was thinking.

 

  “Are you reading my mind or something?!” Yoshiki demanded, his different emotions were wearing him down. This is the first time Yoshiki had felt tired since he came here. “Yes we did, I’m sorry it’s a habit, usually random people pass through and our Prince had gifted with this ability so we can know who is passing through our worlds,” Tsuzuku said and Yoshiki was starting to understand what they were trying to say.

 

  “Okay… So where am I? And… how do I leave?” Yoshiki asked and the two others started to laugh quietly with each other. “We don’t know how to leave…” Yoshiatsu says which confused Yoshiki. “What do you mean? Aren’t also... You know.. I guess in the “human” world?” Yoshiki asked and the two ravens looked at each other in understanding.

 

  “Well.. Yes, but we don’t choose to go there, it’s more like… we fall asleep here and wake up there, whenever our prince needs us there, he has us “sent” there, I guess. We aren’t very sure how it happens. But if you are insistent on leaving I think you should converse with our prince, he knows the way.” Tsuzuku said and right at that moment, a familiar chirp caught Yoshiki’s attention, that same damn cardinal was following him or leading him somewhere.

 

  “Oh! Asami! We haven’t seen you in quite a while!” Yoshiatsu exclaimed at the bird as if it could respond, he was also waving at the bird and smiling widely. Yoshiki looked between the two a couple of times before Tsuzuku understood the confused look on the blonde’s face. “Asami is the avian companion of our prince, he is friends to all and warns our prince of danger.” Yoshiki nodded in understanding. “So… How do I find your prince?” Yoshiki asked and Yoshiatsu shrugged while Tsuzuku rolled his eyes. “Of course Yoshiatsu wouldn’t know, but I do! Just follow Asami and she will lead to him, or someone close to him.”   Yoshiatsu said before he pointed to the bird and was told to follow it. Yoshiki turned around but neither of the two was where he last saw them. Yoshiki then shook that brief thought away and started to follow the bird.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

Toshi was furious. No, enraged! He couldn't believe he didn't notice sooner. He thought he had gotten rid of Hide for good, but Yoshiki just had to find his "lapis". Yoshiki will now be aware that Passion Flower exists, then their entire plan will be ruined!

 

  "I can't believe you let him take charge in this situation, I would have been done with this years ago." Toshi heard Jyou sneer as she propped her feet up on the table and glared at him. "Toshi must fix his own mistake. His foolishness has cost us greatly, but we still have a chance to succeed." Masaya said in a low tone and Jyou rolled her eyes at the older man. "But Yoshiki will get proof against us and expose to the rest of the population of VK!" Jyou shouted and Toshi laughed at her words. 

 

  "you are so desperate to rid the world of VK... Says the bitch who is in one of those dreadful groups. And poor Miko doesn't even know..." Toshi said with a nonchalant tone and Jyou stood up and slammed her hands on the table.  "Leave her out of this! I'm doing this for her! She doesn't know the dangers of her choices." Jyou defended but Toshi only scoffed. 'This woman's agenda is completely insane!" Toshi thought as Masaya sighed deeply at their squabble.

 

  "You two are grown adults... Act like it! VK is ruining everything! And we need to stop it! The corruption it caused people. The violence... These younger folks don't understand what they are doing to the people. Age no longer matters; adults, teens, older kids. Everyone is being influenced!" Masaya said loudly so both dimwits could hear him loud and clear. Everyone was silent until a young woman with not enough clothes on came into the room, she bowed deeply to Masaya before she spoke.

 

  "Masaya-Sama. We have  **him** ready for you and will bring him right in." The - too-perky-girl spoke and left with a bounce in her step only to come back with a face Toshi hadn't seen in a while.

 

Masaya laughed as the man looked disoriented and confused,  a hint of fear came across his face as he looked up at Masaya.

 

  "Well Hello Sugizo. I've been dying to meet you.." Masaya said in a sickly sweet voice that made a cold shiver run up his spine.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

Yoshiki didn’t know how long he had been following Asami, but they had found their way out of the wintery forest where he “met” Tsuzuku and Yoshiatsu. The scenery around them had changed, it looked almost like it was out of a fairytale book; the sky was an unrealistic blue, the grass the surrounded the cobblestone trail was very bright green. Ahead of them was a city-like place, but again looked fake.

 

  “This can’t be real…” Yoshiki whispered to himself, but Asami just flew around him and back towards the direction of the city. She obviously knew where she was going. Yoshiki let out a heavy sigh before continuing towards the city. However, the walk was short lived when Asami suddenly downwards towards what looked a large garden of white plants. Instead of continuing to the city, Yoshiki walked into the garden and looked around for Asami and he spotted her hopping around someone who seemed to be… painting? The white roses were red. 

 

The person painting had short reddish-pink hair, healthy but fair looking skin, and his clothes were very unusual; he wore leather shorts that weren’t too skimpy, knee-length boots paired with checkered thigh-high socks, a white button shirt with a black french patterned vest. He also wore minimal makeup; mainly just eyeliner. No one moved or looked at each other until the painter suddenly stopped and looked over at him, his large brown were full of curiosity and young innocence, almost like a small child.

 

  “Who are you?” The red-haired painter asked and turned his full attention to Yoshiki who was only staring at the boy. There was something about his face and voice that reminded him of someone…

 

  “Y-Yoshiki!” As soon as Yoshiki’s name left his lips the redhead instantly lit up and smiled, he jumped up and hugged Yoshiki. The blonde was shocked by his actions until the red-head let go and looked up at him. "I-I'm s-sorry, it's just... Wow! You are actually here!" The painter exclaimed in happiness and Yoshiki thought he saw tears in his eye. "What? How do you know me?" Yoshiki asked and the boy looked confused

   "But you have returned. You are our king." He responded and lit up once again. "Oh my! Our prince will be delighted to see you again. Oh! You must come with me! He has been waiting for you!" The red-head exclaimed and pulled at Yoshiki's hand and ran towards the city. He ran through the streets while waving at random people, but he was still running.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

Hyde watched through the large glass window as Ayame ran with Yoshiki towards the castle. It had been a while since he had physically seen Yoshiki, of course, his true physical form was hidden how he looked in Passion Flower, and he bet his heart would hurt for the poor man. He has lost some of the most precious things to him. His passion, love. Even his will to live was long forgotten by now. Hopefully, his heart will be restored and Masaya can't break him down more than he already is.

 

   "Did Ayame find him?" A quiet voice asked him and Hyde smiled and turned to his friend. "Yes Hide. And he is on his way here as we speak." Hyde said and a look of pure relief and happiness overcame Hide's eyes and face, a tired but happy smile marked his ageless face.

 

   "Finally. He will now know the truth. This is the first big step in protecting many people, in Passion Flower and in the real world." Hide said breathlessly and he let one happy tear fall down his porcelain cheeks.

 

**~*~*~*~**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter was a little shorter, there is so much to write that I want to expand it to more chapters.
> 
> Much love to Hide!


End file.
